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26 October, 2013

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us, and I've set about the (laughable) task of planning out what I'll be doing with . . . AND THE BEAST.

How much planning can one do to prep for one of these things? Not much.

You can come up with a rough sketch of what you want for your chapters, but that can change once the writing starts. The characters are a little static -- you can only work out who's going to be your main characters, and even then that's a little iffy. You may add or detract characters at will when you find one isn't working, or one extra's needed to move the plot forward.

This'll be fun, though. I didn't have the blog up last year when I put UNCERTAIN HEIRS together, so this will be a great opportunity for me to share my creative process with people as I go. I hope you understand that I'll only get the groundwork for . . . AND THE BEAST during November -- I'll be going back to UNCERTAIN HEIRS after that to finish the third draft. But don't worry, I'll complete it as my next novel.

23 October, 2013

I'm gearing up for this year's NaNoWriMo by pausing from Uncertain Heirs and starting my next project, . . . And The Beast. After November, I'll table . . . And The Beast and get back to my regularly scheduled novel.

In the meanwhile, if you want to see the great program of NaNo continue, then you can help by clicking here to donate any amount you wish. :) Thanks everyone!

19 October, 2013

The edits for Chapter 6 are coming along smoothly. I've been busy with other projects this week, so I've been trying to balance the productivity of reading, editing, crafting, etc. I'm hoping to do a rotation of each today, so that I can finish editing Chapter 6 and move on.

Speaking of moving on, I've decided that I'll edit as much as I possibly can this month, and then take time off from UNCERTAIN HEIRS by starting a new project for this year's NaNoWriMo. This will be something different, set as its own story and apart from the Earth Dog world.

If anyone is interested in following my progress, you can check out my NaNo page here. This year's project is called . . . AND THE BEAST (ellipsis included), about a primordial godking sentenced to have his mind ripped from his body and hurled into space. His essence ends up on Earth, trapped in the mind of a three year old girl.

06 October, 2013

For the last five days, I've been productive*. I've successfully relocated a scene that was giving me trouble, and was able to move forward.

Into Chapter 3.

Hey, don't look at me like that. Chapter 2 had an important scene, but it just wasn't working. Admittedly it took a few months to come up with a solution, but I got there. That's the process of writing -- some things work out naturally in a matter of days, others take months.

But on the bright side, I'm onto Chapter 3 of the third draft, and should hopefully finish it up today. I may even put up a comparison of drafts, just to show the amount of work that goes into certain sections.

Anyway, back to work. Catch you folks next update :)

* I attribute it to the psychological effects of the upcoming NaNoWriMo, not necessarily the caffeine purge**** Three weeks soda sober today!****** I've been reading lots of Terry Pratchett.

Ash Litton is a writer and lover of sci-fi, fantasy, and all things fictional. She is the author of No Signal, Thoroughbred, Evening Hallow, Comeuppance, and Cabover Cabaret, and works on other Appalachian Dream Tales between her ongoing novel projects.

When she's not writing, she's drawing, and when she's not doing either of those, she's dreaming up new projects to work on. Born and raised in rural West Virginia, Ash has always wondered what things lay hidden in the hills around her. She attended West Virginia University, where she studied the English language before returning home to her family in rural West Virginia.